Relief printing plates are used in both flexographic and letterpress processes for printing on a variety of substrates, including paper, corrugated stock, film, foil, laminates and the like. The photocurable elements that are used to make relief printing plates typically comprise a support layer, one or more layers of photocurable polymer in the form of solid sheets, and a cover sheet. The cover sheet is removed from the photocurable element, whereupon a silver halide photographic negative or some other masking device is placed directly upon the photocurable polymer. The photocurable element is then exposed through the negative to actinic radiation from multiple sources, thereby causing exposed areas of the photocurable element to harden or cure. After the uncured areas of the photocurable element are removed, the cured polymer remains as the relief printing surface of the relief printing plate.
New and improved relief printing plates and methods for making relief printing plates are needed to produce sharper printed images and, thus, reduce the printed dot gain that results from the previously used methods described above. The present invention is directed to these, as well as other, important ends.